


Rosebud

by ereshai



Series: Check, Please! 12 Days of Christmas 2016 [5]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Check Please 12 Days of Christmas, Day 6: Ice Skating/Sledding/Skiing, Fluff, M/M, Sledding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 12:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8890840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ereshai/pseuds/ereshai
Summary: An afternoon of winter fun.





	

The snow hill loomed above them. Snowsuit-clad children swarmed all over it, some standing at the top, some trudging up the slope, and of course, some careening toward the bottom, all of them with brightly colored plastic sleds.

“You ready, Bits?” Jack said. In his winter coat, hat, and gloves, he was barely dressed for the weather compared to Bitty in his multiple layers, coat, snowpants, hat _and_ hood, double-wrapped scarf, and gloves that were also mittens.

“As I’ll ever be,” he said, eyeing the hill. “You sure those kids aren’t going to run right over us when the see us coming? They look a little bloodthirsty to me.” One boy took a running start, belly-flopping onto a waiting sled with another child already on it. They zoomed down the hill, taking out some unsuspecting children on their way down.

“They’re just having fun, eh? And look,” he added, pointing at a couple of taller figures at the top, “we aren’t the only adults here.”

“Cold comfort,” Bitty mumbled. The adults in question flung themselves into action with the same abandon as the children.

“Let’s go.” Jack hefted the sled and started up the slope. Bitty sighed and followed as best he could. He should not have mentioned that he’d never gone sledding in his life.

At the top, Jack conferred with some of the older kids about the best spot for a fast run – apparently it mattered where you went down the hill. One area was designated ‘for babies’, and sure enough, those kids weren’t going at nearly the same speeds as those on the ‘wicked insane’ part of the hill.

Thankfully, Jack walked over to the ‘for babies’ section. “We’ll get you started out nice and easy.” The children, sensing fresh blood, sneered at them.

“Oh Lord, I’m about to get chirped by ten year olds,” Bitty muttered.

Jack just laughed.

“You go ahead and laugh, Mr. Zimmermann, but I still do not see the appeal of sliding down a snow-covered hill at fifty miles per hour.”

“You won’t be going that fast, Bitty. Here, get on.” Jack knelt beside the sled and held it in place. “Just sit down and hold on to the sides. I’ll give you a little push to get you started.”

Bitty did as Jack said. “Okay, I’m ready.” The words had barely left his mouth before he was rushing down the hill, completely out of control. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He squeezed his eyes shut and kept them that way until the world finally stopped moving.

“You okay, mister?” a little girl asked.

Bitty opened his eyes. He was laying down in the sled at the bottom of the hill. He was still alive.

“That was kinda fun,” he said.

The little girl just looked at him, then ran off with her friends.

Bitty rolled off the sled and stood up. He looked up at Jack, still standing at the top of the hill, and waved. Jack waved back, then motioned for him to come back up.

He made the trek back up the hill and handed the sled over to Jack. Jack grinned and immediately went over to ‘wicked insane’, barely slowing down enough to hop on the sled before he was zipping down, leaning this way and that to avoid other sledders until he slid to a stop a good distance from the bottom.

“Damn, he got awesome distance,” a nearby boy said. Then he shot down the hill, too, coming to a stop well before Jack’s stopping point.

Jack and the boy walked back up the hill together. It sounded like Jack was giving him pointers.

“Ready to go again, Bitty?” Jack’s face was red with cold and he was smiling broadly.

“Sure, but I’m not fool enough to go down that.” He waved his hand at ‘wicked insane’. “I’ll stick to the baby hill, thank you.”

Jack shrugged and handed him the sled. “Should’ve brought two sleds, eh? Maybe next time.”

This time, Bitty kept his eyes open on his way down. He even managed a bit of control, barely avoiding running into a small child near the bottom, which ended with him falling off the sled and rolling a few feet in the snow.

They spent the afternoon taking turns on the sled, Bitty stubbornly refusing to try the faster slope. As it got closer to evening, more and more children began to leave, and soon they were almost alone on the hill, save for a few die-hards who seemed to take delight in falling off halfway down and rolling the rest of the way.

“Once more down and the home, eh?” Jack said once they were completely alone. “We can go down together.”

“Will we both fit?” The sled, though a good size, was not meant for two grown men.

Jack sat on the sled and crossed his legs. “You can sit on my lap.”

“If I didn’t know better, Jack Zimmermann…” Bitty carefully climbed into Jack’s lap and tucked his feet out of the way.

Jack put an arm around his waist. “You hang on to the sled,” he said in Bitty’s ear, “and I’ll push us off.”

“Wait, Jack-“ Bitty began, but it was too late – they were heading down ‘wicked insane’. He grabbed the sides of the sled and held his breath. The wind rushed past his face, faster than he’d gone all afternoon, even with their combined weights. Jack was laughing, his arms wrapped tight around Bitty, holding him close as they flew down, down, down.

They hit a bump and then it felt like they really were flying. Jack let go and they rolled and slid the rest of the way, finally coming to a stop next to each other.

Bitty lay in the snow, trying to catch his breath as he stared up at the sky. Jack crawled over to him, his worried face hovering over him.

“You okay, Bits?”

“I’m fine,” Bitty told him. “That was… exhilarating.”

Jack smiled. “That wasn’t so bad, eh?”

“I enjoyed it. A little bit.”

Jack opened his mouth to say something and Bitty reached up and pulled him down into a heated kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> This story has fallen prey to my habitual lack of endings, and so I shall end it on a kiss.


End file.
